Pretty horrible day for the USOC. The softball women lost in the gold medal game and Simone Biles just said, "nah, I'm good."
The discourse around this is really strange too. Mental health is important, but pretending this is a good thing is total nonsense. ESPN called her “the ultimate teammate” after quitting on her team, because she cheered and got them chalk.
It's not like she had 5 years to get mentally ready for the Olympics. This is probably more on the coaches than anything.
It's not just that for me, and I'll start this by saying she's an amazing athlete, one of the best if not the best OAT regardless of this decision, and I can kinda of see the whole when you know or can tell you're off, letting them know something isn't right and feeling like not competing is better than competing may just indeed be the best path forward, and I'm also not going to discount her at all, I can't imagine the pressure of being basically the face of this olympics for Team USA, has to be brutal.
That all being said, it's an unbelievable gut punch to her team and teammates to do that, you're
the ringer, you're
the ace. This is like Lebron, or Brady, or Mahomes or whoever just deciding right in the clutch moment to not perform and not be that clutch person and walk off the field and be like "you know I feel off, I'm just going to sit this out." Her (and their) entire life has revolved around that sport, the hours, practice, determination, everything, true competitors get to that level because they want to be there, so to just up and
not want it is just astounding to me. It's such a departure from what makes elite athletes (or really anyone who is elite) tick. Be it artists, musicians, or any top notch professional. And if that feeling of burnout and self doubt no doubt exists in their psyche, but to have others count on your, and pull that rug out right at the moment you are set to perform what you've worked your whole life for, if not for you, do it for your teammates. It's a bitterly disappointing move from such a big star.
I do think though there is going to be a pretty juicy back story to come to light from this, it won't be pretty, I doubt she arrived at that decision organically, I wonder what machinations are going on behind the scenes....